Contents

Recap

Ted and Marshall begin the story in Marshall's Pontiac Fiero. The car is about to hit 200,000 miles on the odometer, and Marshall is excited, since the Fiero has served him well. He even has cigars in the glove box ready for the occasion, although Ted can only find two sets of chopsticks. However, Marshall hits a pothole, and the Fiero quits running just before it hits 200,000 miles. In the shop, Marshall is saddened, and everyone begins sharing stories about the Fiero.

Marshall tells the story of how he had to prove himself worthy in the eyes of his brothers by ordering 12 cups of coffee at the drive-thru while sitting naked in the front seat (his brothers jumped out and surprised him, causing him to jerk the car and make the hot coffee spill all over him). He also uses this to tell why he has never allowed food or drink in the Fiero (not even groceries). Ted then tells his memorable moment with the Fiero, known as both "Fieroasco" and the "100k Fiasco" (the Fiero was approaching 100,000 miles at that time), which began during their freshman year of college, when Marshall offered to pick Ted up from his parents' house in Ohio on his way back to college from Minnesota after Christmas break. Ted tells of how they got lost on a back road and had to cuddle together to stay warm when a snowstorm hit, and then found out they were parked in front of a small bed-and-breakfast with people staring at them the next morning.

Lily and Robin then feel the need to come clean about something, and they tell Marshall about the time they took the Fiero to get Thai food but spilled it in the passenger compartment. They carefully cleaned it up, smoked the cigars that Marshall had been saving for the passing of 200,000 miles, and wrapped two chopsticks in napkins, hoping Marshall would never discover what they did. Finally, Barney says that he doesn't understand any of their feelings for the car. Ted then tells of Barney's only memory with the Fiero, which was the time Ted taught Barney how to drive on it, and Barney was scared of driving ever again (even though he never left the parking lot or went much above 10 mph). Although all 5 of them attempt to push the car to 200,000 miles, they give up, and say goodbye to the car.

Continuity

Marshall easily beats Ted at the car game "Zitch Dog" due to being unusually good at playing games, as revealed in Game Night. He also beats Lily and Barney at the same game on the way to Ted's wedding in Shelter Island.

While Barney claims to have never learned how to drive, in Come OnPenelope mentions that she had sex with him twice in his car, and in Home Wreckers, a flashback shows him driving Ted's mom to the airport following the events of Brunch. Barney appears to have overcome his fear of driving by Moving Day, in which he steals Ted's moving van.

In the flashback to the "100K Fiasco/Fiero-asco", Ted talks about his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Karen.

Future References (Contains Spoilers)

Marshall and Lily wanting four and two children, respectively, is referenced again when they each imagine their future in their apartment in Dowisetrepla.

Ted being pretentious in college is mentioned for the first time, and reappears many episodes, including The Possimpible and Sorry, Bro. In Natural History, however, it is mentioned that Marshall and Lily were fairly pretentious in college as well.

Notes and Trivia

Goofs and Errors

In this episode, it is said that there is a "no food in the Fiero, not even groceries" rule, however it is stated in Duel Citizenship that Ted and Marshall have taken many road trips in the car, eating only beef jerky and drinking Tantrum, a fizzy drink.

When Ted is saying "And that is the origin of Marshall's 'No food or drinks in the Fiero, not even groceries' rule," for the first part of the sentence Ted's lips are not moving.

Allusions and Outside References

The scene where Robin instructs Lily on how to clean up the Thai food mess in the Fiero is reminiscent of the clean up scene in Pulp Fiction where Mr. Wolf instructs Vincent and Jules to clean up the remnants of Marvin from their car.

In his toast to the Fiero, Marshall refers to it as the "freaking Giving Tree of cars".

Robin tries to persuade Lily out of telling the true story of what they did in the Fiero by mentioning the Prisoner's dilemma.

When Ted is teaching Barney to drive, during the freakout when they are screaming Ted can be heard to yell "throw me the idol I'll throw you the whip," referencing Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Music

Other Notes

An orchestral arrangement of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" plays as the gang attempts to push the Fiero the remaining 0.7 miles.

During the commentary for this episode, Jason Segel claims that Alyson Hanniganhates tobacco smoke and was unhappy after the scene in the car with Cobie Smulders because they had to smoke several cigars. As a result, both of them were a little woozy and dizzy after shooting.

Guests

Reception

Staci Krause of IGN gave the episode an 8.2 out of 10, stating that although it was a pretty funny episode, it did "little to truly progress Ted's story." She praised the Marshall and Ted story, saying that "seeing a Ted and Marshall that didn't get along that great was good storytelling", however did not think Barney's story was as great. Overall she said, "it still is really unclear where the main point of the story is going, but the journey is more important than the destination". [1]

The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 7 out of 10 stars. "The history of the legendary Fiero."